Gilas early buildup shifts to high gear with Calamba training camp
The early stretch of Gilas Pilipinas preparations for the 2023 FIBA World Cup is finally shifting to a higher gear as the Nationals entered the training camp at the Inspire Sports Academy in Laguna on Saturday, June 17.
Hampered by manpower woes at the onset of its formal training sessions, the Nationals are expected to reach close to full attendance in Calamba where the team will be spending the next four days before flying to Estonia on June 22 for a series of tuneup games against European teams. Barangay Ginebra's Jamie Malonzo, who was among the players who missed the first few sessions of Gilas practice, finally rejoined the national team and was part of the first batch of Gilas pool members to enter the training camp. Joining the high-flying forward were Gilas pillars June Mar Fajardo and Japeth Aguilar, along with fellow PBA stars Scottie Thompson, CJ Perez, Chris Newsome and JP Erram. Kiefer and Thirdy Ravena were also in attendance along with Rhenz Abando, naturalized player Ange Kouame and young big man AJ Edu. Dwight Ramos is also among the players expected to join the team over the weekend along with injured players Ray Parks Jr.,RR Pogoy and Calvin Oftana. Justin Brownlee, on the other hand, is reportedly already in the country and could join the team in the next few days while Jordan Heading is still in the US. Kai Sotto and Jordan Clarkson, as earlier reported, won’t be joining the camp as well as the European trip. Gilas Pilipinas head coach Chot Reyes had earlier laid out the plans for Gilas in the training camp and ahead of the European tune up games, noting that the team must get its players back into game shape first. “People have to start getting into game shape because a lot of these guys are coming off a break -- both PBA, Japan, Korea -- they're all coming from breaks, so we're starting some conditioning already,” said Reyes, who also stressed the need to assimilate new guys in Edu and Abando to the scheme of things. “We also want to assimilate both Rhenz and AJ into what we're doing. The others already know, basically, the stuff that we're doing and we wanted to fast track the assimilation of Rhenz and AJ,” he added.
*Gilas Pilipinas during its training at the Inspire Sports Academy (Photo from Inspire Sports)
*Hampered by manpower woes at the onset of its formal training sessions, the Nationals are expected to reach close to full attendance in Calamba where the team will be spending the next four days before flying to Estonia on June 22 for a series of tuneup games against European teams. Barangay Ginebra's Jamie Malonzo, who was among the players who missed the first few sessions of Gilas practice, finally rejoined the national team and was part of the first batch of Gilas pool members to enter the training camp. Joining the high-flying forward were Gilas pillars June Mar Fajardo and Japeth Aguilar, along with fellow PBA stars Scottie Thompson, CJ Perez, Chris Newsome and JP Erram. Kiefer and Thirdy Ravena were also in attendance along with Rhenz Abando, naturalized player Ange Kouame and young big man AJ Edu. Dwight Ramos is also among the players expected to join the team over the weekend along with injured players Ray Parks Jr.,RR Pogoy and Calvin Oftana. Justin Brownlee, on the other hand, is reportedly already in the country and could join the team in the next few days while Jordan Heading is still in the US. Kai Sotto and Jordan Clarkson, as earlier reported, won’t be joining the camp as well as the European trip. Gilas Pilipinas head coach Chot Reyes had earlier laid out the plans for Gilas in the training camp and ahead of the European tune up games, noting that the team must get its players back into game shape first. “People have to start getting into game shape because a lot of these guys are coming off a break -- both PBA, Japan, Korea -- they're all coming from breaks, so we're starting some conditioning already,” said Reyes, who also stressed the need to assimilate new guys in Edu and Abando to the scheme of things. “We also want to assimilate both Rhenz and AJ into what we're doing. The others already know, basically, the stuff that we're doing and we wanted to fast track the assimilation of Rhenz and AJ,” he added.